Head of Safeguarding

• Job title: Head of Safeguarding
• Job Type: Permanent, Full Time, Monday-Friday, 8am - 5pm
• Salary: Competitive
• Department: Pastoral
• Reporting to: Deputy Head Pastoral
• Location: Highgate Senior School and Highgate Junior School
• Start: 19th April 2027 (or earlier if availability allows)
• Closing Date: 2 November 2026 at 8:00 am

Highgate is seeking an experienced, energetic and highly credible safeguarding professional to join its senior leadership team as Head of Safeguarding (Designated Safeguarding Lead). We are looking for someone who combines strong expertise in safeguarding and child protection with the ability to build trust quickly with young people, parents and colleagues. The successful candidate may come from either an educational or social care background but will share a commitment to placing children’s welfare at the heart of school life, working collaboratively with colleagues and external agencies, and helping to shape and lead best practice across a large and ambitious school community.

This opportunity arises following the departure of our current postholder, who is leaving Highgate to take up an exciting opportunity in the wider safeguarding sector. The role is well established and highly regarded within the School, reflecting Highgate’s longstanding commitment to safeguarding and pastoral care.

Highgate created a dedicated safeguarding leadership role, separate from the Deputy Head (Pastoral), in 2022 as part of a significant investment in safeguarding provision. Since then, the role has become central to the School’s pastoral structure and approach to child protection. The title is now being updated to Head of Safeguarding, reflecting the operational focus of the position and its leadership of safeguarding practice across the School.

The Head of Safeguarding reports to the Deputy Head (Pastoral) and works closely with the Head, Governors, pastoral leaders and external agencies. The role offers the opportunity to influence strategic decision-making while remaining closely involved in casework, staff training, policy development and partnership working with families and statutory services.

This is an exceptional opportunity to join the Senior Team of one of the country’s leading independent schools and an award-winning educational charity.

We welcome applications from candidates with substantial safeguarding experience in schools, social care, health, child protection or related services. The successful candidate will have experience of leading safeguarding practice, making complex safeguarding decisions and working effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. They will be an excellent communicator, calm under pressure, highly organised, and committed to the highest standards of safeguarding and child protection.

It is likely that we will be in touch soon after the deadline to invite the long list of candidates to an Online interview during the week commencing 9 November. The shortlisted candidates will be invited to visit the school for a further interview, written task, presentation, and desktop exercise in the week beginning 16 November.

Job Description

Main Responsibilities:

To act as the School’s Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead, providing operational leadership of safeguarding and child protection across the Foundation and ensuring the effective implementation of safeguarding policies, procedures and practice.

Operations and Training:

• To manage and support the team of DSLs across the Foundation, chairing regular DSL meetings, providing professional guidance on safeguarding cases and coordinating DSL training;
• To oversee and direct effective Safeguarding induction and continual professional development training for all staff;
• To maintain oversight of all safeguarding concerns, providing advice, challenge and support to DSLs in managing cases and ensuring that safeguarding records, actions and referrals are timely and appropriate.

Communication:

• To maintain effective relationships with safeguarding partners, including local authorities, social care teams, health professionals and police;
• To support the Deputy Head (Pastoral) in preparing safeguarding reports, updates and papers for Governors and senior leaders;
• To ensure pupils have opportunities to express their views on safeguarding and wellbeing matters;
• To maintain effective communication with parents regarding safeguarding concerns, procedures and sources of support.

Policies and Compliance:

• To ensure compliance with safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance, including Working Together to Safeguard Children,Keeping Children Safe in Education, PREVENT requirements and local safeguarding procedures;
• To work with the Deputy Head (Pastoral) to maintain and review safeguarding policies and ensure the School remains inspection‑ready;
• To work closely with HR to ensure safer recruitment procedures, records and training are robust and compliant;
• To ensure safeguarding records are accurate, secure and maintained appropriately, including through the effective use of safeguarding systems such as CPOMS;
• To support the work of the Head of Pupil Attendance and the Deputy Head Pastoral (who is also the School’s Senior Attendance Champion) overseeing attendance, pupils missing from education and the transfer of safeguarding information for pupils joining or leaving the School.

These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide and are not exhaustive. The Head of Safeguarding will be expected to undertake any reasonable duties consistent with the nature and level of the role as directed by the Deputy Head (Pastoral).

Person Specification

• Criteria
• How will these be tested or verified?
• Qualifications and Experience
• Essential:
• Considerable pastoral and/or safeguarding experience within a School environment and/or recognised professional qualifications and experience relating to safeguarding or social work
• In‑depth knowledge and understanding of Working Together to Safeguard Children and Keeping Children Safe in Education legislation
• Skills and Abilities
• Essential:
• Successful management and leadership experience
• Experience of managing, or the ability to manage, parental enquiries, concerns or anxieties with authority and reassurance
• Experience of liaising with external Safeguarding partners, such as health professionals, social workers and Police
• Ability to lead, to manage (both ‘up’ and ‘down’), to delegate well and to work collaboratively and build teams
• Transferable experience of, or an insightful empathy with, the particular demands on pupils and staff of a busy and ambitious school
• Very effective, clear communication skills, both written and spoken
• Ability to work swiftly and accurately at times or under pressure while retaining an overall ‘bigger picture’
• Knowledge and understanding of and/or an interest in the benefits information technology can bring to efficient working and good learning
• Evidence of a commitment to ongoing professional development
• Attitude and Behaviours
• Essential:
• A commitment to co‑education in a selective and academically ambitious School
• A personality which inspires respect, affection and trust
• A critical sympathy with the aims and ethos of the School, which combine an inherent Christian tradition with a determination to be a tolerant, inclusive and diverse modern community
• A style of working which promotes high standards, professional accountability and reflective practice
• Reserves of energy, stamina and patience which will allow the post-holder to deal with a large operational portfolio reliably and efficiently
• The highest levels of integrity, emotional intelligence and personal resilience to deal with a range of challenging circumstances faced by pupils, families and staff
• Excellent judgement, particularly when facing challenging or pressurised situations
• An ability to identify priorities, manage operational workloads effectively and ensure actions are followed through to completion
• The ability to make difficult decisions and to mobilise support for these
• Determination to ensure the safety and well‑being of each individual child by expecting, and insisting upon, the highest standards of safeguarding and pastoral care
• Ability to model kindness to self and others
• Ability to build trusting and productive relationships with children, parents and staff while maintaining professional curiosity and appropriate challenge

Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.

Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary,employees contribute a minimum of 5%.

Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.

Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).

Lunch | A complimentary lunch.

Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.

Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.

Highgate is a caring, open-mind community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.

Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.

Following a visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2024 to assess Highgate’s regulatory compliance and school standards, we are pleased to share the inspection findings, which reports compliance in all five areas and a ‘significant strength’ in our teaching expertise.

Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work‑life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.

The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental‑Health First Aiders.

We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.

More details about working at Highgate can be found here:

As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high‑quality education accessible to as

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